Allegiance Myanmar Rank Vice-Senior General | Years of service 1980–present Service/branch Myanmar Army | |
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Commands helds Myanmar Army, Commander-in-chief, Tatmadaw | ||
Vice-Senior General Soe Win (Burmese: စိုးဝင်း; [só wɪ́ɴ]) is the current deputy commander-in-chief of the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces), and a member of the National Defence and Security Council in Myanmar (Burma). In May 2012, former President of Myanmar Thein Sein appointed him to the working committee of the government team responsible for negotiating with Myanmar's many armed ethnic rebel groups. Soe Win is a close associate of former Vice Chairman of the SPDC, Vice-Senior General Maung Aye.
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Military career
In 1980, Soe Win graduated from the Defense Services Academy (DSA) during its 22nd intake. In June 2008, he became the commander of the Northern Regional Command of the Myanmar Army in Kachin State. In August 2010, he became Chief of the Bureau of Special Operations-6 (BSO-6), which oversees military operations in Chin and Rakhine States and the Magwe Region.
In September 2011, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) accused Soe Win of ordering Tatmadaw soldiers to attack KIA positions in Kachin State, thus violating the terms of multiple ceasefire agreements signed prior to the alleged attacks. Soe Win denied the claims, saying that neither he nor anyone else in the Northern Regional Command had ordered an attack on the KIA.
Accusations of corruption
Soe Win has been accused of being involved numerous cases of corruption and extortion during his career as commander of the Northern Regional Command from 2008 to 2010. He has been accused of accepting bribes from companies dealing in jade, timber, and gold, in exchange for concessions from the profits. He was reported to have accepted a 150 million kyat ($149,254USD) bribe from teak businessmen from China's Yunnan Province, in exchange for allowing illicit teak trade on the Myanmar-China border. In March 2010, he ordered Tatmadaw soldiers in Hpakant, Kachin State, to collect military taxes from local jade mining companies.
Soe Win had also pressured the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) to convert into a "Border Guard Force" (BGF) under the control of the military. Despite numerous meetings between Soe win and KIA leaders in July 2009 and August 2010, the KIA did not become a BGF.